Former New York Times food critic Frank Bruni has thrown his hat into the Anthony Bourdain vs. Paula Deen ring, calling out razor-tongued Bourdain for branding genial grandma Paula a menace to society.
The way Bruni sees it, even if Deen "isn't my cup of lard," Bourdain's "ill-timed elitism" is the real problem here. Deen, who stuck up for herself by saying she cooks for the "regular families who worry about feeding their kids and paying the bills," is "100 percent justified in assailing the culinary aristocracy, to which even a self-styled bad boy like Bourdain belongs, for an often selective, judgmental and unforgiving worldview." What's more, these so-called culinary aristocrats are hypocrites, because they "grovel" and "swoon" for David Chang's pork buns and Andrew Carmellini's fried chicken, while balking at Deen's artery-clogging down-home delights.
And he's got a point. Pitting liberal foodie snobs against fat Americans won't solve anything. Can't we all get just along? Compromise is they key: just ask Domino's, who mastered the art of appealing to customers across the board.
